Clinical Exchange in Japan

After getting introduced tomy first station – the Department of Neurology, with its chair Prof. Katsuno – I got an initial orientation about our schedule for the next four weeks. I was surprised how much effort the department put into my schedule, even personal preferences and specialties had been cosidered. Experiencing face to face lectures with a doctor or researcher, I were lucky to be able to collect a lot of knowledge about the most common neurological disease in Japan. Every Tuesday I got invitedto the weeklymeeting with the whole teamand Professor Katsuno to discuss different diseases and their treatment. Followed by a detailed ward round I got theopportunity to praticemy skillswhich I gained at theMedical University of Vienna over the last 4 years.

My second rotation got me andmy collegue to the Department of Opthalmologyfor two weeks, which I am very interested in. After receiving a warm welcome from Kaneko-sensei,my supervior for the stay, I was introduced to thedaily work at the operating room, where I spentmost of my timeof the twoweeks.Mostly observing opthalmological surgeries, I increased my knowledge about different diseases of the human eye and its treatments. Furthermore, I was lucky to get the chance of entering the modern simulation center of Nagoya University Hospital, where I practiceddifferent eye surgeries.

After two great weeks at the Department for Opthalmology, I rotated to the Department for Otorhinolaryngology. Those two weeks were dominated by observing very complicated and interesting surgeries for oncological cases. I had thechancetointerviewthe surgeonsabout different techniques, surgical approaches and treatments of several types of cancer. Being amazed by the variety of otorhinolaryngeal diseases and theirtreatments, I could increasemymedcial knowledge about this specialty to the next level.

Mylast station was the Departmentof Gynecology and Obstretics,where I spent four very interesting weeks. At the department I had the chance to join three different teams– the fertilization team, the obstretics team and theteamfor oncological cases. Nakamura-sensei,mysupervisor, put great effort in supporting me during this time. Followed by a very interesting rotation to the obstretics team, I got the chance so see my first cesarian section and natural, vaginal delivery of a newborn baby. At theoncological, I spentmost of the time in the operating room again. There I was asked to assist the surgeons for different surgeries and lern more about this specialty.

Aside of my medical education at Nagoya University Hospital, I had the chance to have interesting talksand discussion withmany doctors about thedaily work andlife as a doctor in Japan and Austria. Especially these talks had a big inpact on me and influencedmy way of thinking and solvingproblems. At this point I want to thank the staff members of the Office of International Affairs, their support was great and helped me a lot during my stay in Japan. Also thanks to my japanese tutor Sakino,who introduced me to the life of a japanese student in an university hospital. Due to weekly meetings, I had the opportunity to get a view behind the scenes and widen my horizon. Special thanks to my inofficial mentor Uno-sensei from the Department of Gynecology and Obstretics, who invited me to different medical talks, events and activities.